In the aftermath of the $2.1 billion arms fund scandal, otherwise referred to as Dasukigate, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Army yesterday called for an urgent review of processes for the procurement of arms and ammunition for the Nigerian Army and all other security agencies in the country.
According to the committee, the call became imperative in order to prevent future occurrences of the current controversies surrounding the purchase of arms and ammunition for counter-insurgency operations, and the recent claims of purchase of substandard arms involving some top military officers.
Presently, some former top military personnel in the immediate past administration of ex-President Goodluck Jonathan, including his former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, are facing corruption charges before various law courts in Abuja.
Addressing the Chief of Army Staff, General Tukur Buratai, and top army officers at the 2015/2016 budget defence exercise, the chairman of the committee, Hon. Rima Shawulu, expressed concern at the sorry state of facilities in the 30 military formations and barracks across the country visited recently by the committee.
In his response, Buratai reminded the committee that “all the Service Chiefs and those involved in the procurement (of arms) are retired, so we are limited on the extent we can investigate them.”
Shawulu, however, asserted that the House had the constitutional powers to launch probe into the arms procurement scandal.
“The controversies over the purchase of arms and ammunition, or alleged purchase of inferior or substandard arms, call for an urgent review of our processes.
“Indeed as several scholars, leaders and generals have repeatedly affirmed that war is too important to be left in the hands of generals.
“The world has moved on and in most democratic countries, representatives of the people, the parliament, is involved in the details of implementation of budgets and procurement processes,” Shawulu said.
The committee also queried the delay in the release of the supplementary budget of N3,196,089,405 for salaries of army officers, including N1,987,056,478 for 72 recruits, N768,637,124 for 62 regular combatants and N440,395,803 for 22 direct short service personnel.
It also stressed the need for adequate budgetary provision for the rehabilitation of 117 barracks across the country.
“In all, we visited and related with officers in about 30 formations in the six geopolitical zines of Nigeria. The findings are sobering and call for a rethink of the way we do things.
“It is sobering that the officers and men, who have dedicated their lives to fighting to keep us safe, live in such scandalous accommodation. It is also shocking that the decay and rot in the system has been left unchecked and our soldiers fight without required equipment,” he said.
According to Shawulu, the committee had sent a letter of request to both Senate President Bukola Saraki and Speaker Yakubu Dogara for an increase in the budgetary allocation to the Nigerian Army for the year 2016.
On the budget defence, Buratai noted that the sum of N160 billion approved by the Federal Ministry of Budget and Planning for the Nigerian Army was inadequate compared to the sum of N520 billion proposed.
He also revealed that the Accountant-General of the Federation, who visited him before he came to the National Assembly for the budget defence, had confirmed that some funds had been released to the coffers of the Nigerian Army.
“If we can get N520 billion today, you can be sure of getting highly motivated troops when they know that their families are being taken care of,” Buratai said.
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